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Allow yourself to get immersed in Alvaro Siza’s Leca Pool-like experience with Malu de Miguel’s MS5 House. Located in Madrid Spain, MS5 was commissioned to house three generations. At 400 square metres, the residence is made of sturdy rectilinear accents is two houses (affectionately described as pavilions) interlocked by a maze-like terrace and light-capturing courtyards. This two-storey multi-generational home comprised of an open garage and garden flanked between bedrooms and many rumpuses is Spanish architect Maria Luisa ‘Malu’ de Miguel’s first ever commission. Stitched of tactility, tasteful details, and brutalist qualities, this house is a confident debut for her practice three years old and counting.

MS5 is unassuming on first impressions given the pale-mandarin tactile brickwork and timber gates seamlessly integrated with the street front and the site’s historical context. A solid volume on the outside with obvious generous balcony spaces disguises and interior of the open plane with joinery pieces strategically placed to create pockets of breakout and living spaces. Typical programmatic needs such as the kitchen and wet areas are either partitioned off-centre or to the side respectively, creating enough of a boundary without the need of doors. Although, sections closed off by glass doors (internal courtyards and gardens for instance) are separated by large glass doors, offering the option to expand the ground floor area into a complete pavilion.

The concrete-like home is characterised by lightwells, different window widths, and sightlines that offers enough privacy and publicness at the user’s will. The main pavilion, made of two floors is mostly introduced with entertainment spaces on the ground floor, and is orientated to overlook the courtyard wide enough to offer the privacy of the bedrooms in the second pavilion. The openness expands through the double-height ceiling and the second floor, with more personal or public breakout spaces to enjoy the sandy colours and views from the terrace. A counterpart to the main pavilion, the sleeping spaces are placed off the side, to offer a secondary retreat ready to entertain another private party.

Malu de Miguel carefully directs the gentle combination of neutral coloured exposed concrete and light grey rendered OSB boards to harmoniously marry bricks coated with a transparent primer. Masonry from the façade gracefully weaves itself in wet area partitions and structural columns as subtle wayfinding. Combining thoughtful sightlines and ceiling-high windows, light gently shifts into place, ready for the stone-textural qualities to reflect soothing light to soften its hard nature. Even the enviable mezzanine library is positioned in a way that endorses borrowed light with a glowing compliment.

MS5’s fluidity is not reduced to tangible design decisions. Room names are loosely used to dictate the space, inviting the owners to decide at their own time and will. The same goes for the circulation.

If you ever find yourself stopping on the brutalist-like staircase to observe the overall wayfinding, you might notice the varying possibilities that can potentially transport you into an Escher’s beloved optical illusion etching.

Just make sure you don’t get too lost in the plan!

Related: Mole House in Hackney, London by David Adjaye.

| The article Tactile Brutalism: MS5 House in Madrid by Malu de Miguel. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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Hawaii is an archipelago located about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from the U.S. mainland in the Pacific Ocean. The state is comprised of 137 volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous small seamounts. A common explanation of the name Hawaii (also the name of its largest island) is that it was named for Hawaiʻiloa, a legendary figure from Hawaiian myth. Upwards of 1.4 million people currently live here.

See more here: https://bit.ly/3aJgaZY

21.307500°, -157.857500°

Source imagery: Airbus Space
© CNES 2020, Distribution Airbus DS

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AKZ Architectura never fails to pack a punch with their work and for their latest project, a facial massage salon in Kyiv (Kiev), they explore the concept of a sculptor’s workshop. With a DIY approach, the space features beige plasterboard with open putty joints and makes use of construction foam (you may have seen it all over Instagram recently) to capture the playful energy of a creatives workshop.

Many of us have been looking to clay (classes, kits, whatever) during the past year to comfort and bring a little joy. Personally, I’ve just finished a 6-week hand-building class and while the result has been mostly some wonky additions to the mug shelf, the experience of working with my hands has been very satisfying. The visual identity of the salon manages to capture this spirit of improvisation throughout its furniture and fixtures – curtain cables, mirrors, lamps were all custom made.

Located in a residential complex in Kyiv’s centre, the salon is spread out over 80 square metres. With sunlight entering through the large windows accentuating the four-metre high ceilings and a mirrored wall hiding a bathroom and mini kitchen, the areas feel light and spacious.

Related: Say No Mo Beauty Salon in Kyiv, Ukraine by Balbek Bureau.

The entrance is reminiscent of an exhibition space, marble and wooden plinths display product – a reference to sculptor’s podiums where they exhibit their works of art. The waiting area on the opposite side mimics the rhythm of the podiums with a bench and side tables made of tiered woodblock and stainless steel casing. The design language flows through to the reception with high wooden shelving and a stainless steel reception desk.

Like a deconstructed pavlova, the project is visually layered. With a conscious effort to use materials sculptors work with, the warm tones of wood, gypsum and transparent linen intermingle with cool tones of the stainless steel and mirrors to create a cohesively light palette. While wood is used as a natural filling canvas the stainless steelwork surfaces nod to the sterility of the work process.

Collaboration and transparency are built into the interior. By throwing out the old “cabinet” format of separate booths for procedures, all the chairs are in the same space to emphasise the relaxed and easy nature of massage procedures.

Pops of seafoam green from the construction foam, pendant lights and drawers add a naturalistic feeling that works in contrast to the stylistic strip lighting and abstract neon reception sign. Wooden plank flooring, an original element from the renovation underpins the entire design, often found in old sculptor’s workshops its been sanded and painted white.

An unlikely pairing, the meditative quality of a Sculptor’s workshop feels right at home as the concept for this relaxing facial massage salon. Even before the technician gets to work expect to feel your worries melt away.

Related: BOWL Cafe in Kiev, Ukraine by AKZ Architectura.

| The article Sculptor Salon Kiev, Ukraine by AKZ Architectura. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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The post What is the Opposite of “Distraction?” The Single Word that Will Change Your Life This Year appeared first on Nir and Far.

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I wanted to wrap up this week’s posts with a picture of the Earth, captured a few days ago on April 22 — the day that what we celebrated Earth Day for the 51st time. For the past week, this feed focused on a few, particularly exciting solutions that address the climate crisis and move our civilization into greater balance with the planet’s natural systems.

Those posts coincided with this project’s first effort to use the Instagram platform to create more tangible, real-world impact. Since its start, this feed has aimed to raise awareness of the various ways our species has impacted the planet. With your support and engagement on the first Impact post, we were able to use the Overview perspective to not only raise awareness about a particular problem, but to go further and provide financial support to an organization who is addressing it head on. By nature, not all endeavors to address climate change can be profitable ones. We need to do more to support the organizations who are making these efforts and I look forward to seeing how else we can help. 111,002 trees is a great start.

The initiatives that we highlighted in posts this week — be they more sustainable forms of energy production (less carbon made by us) or brilliant ways to counteract climate change (capturing carbon made by us) — can all play a role in the collective, bigger effort. No single solution, industry, or country can solve this problem. Solving this problem will require collaboration from all facets of our civilization - business, government, science, non-profits, etc. - if we hope to address something that’s so all-encompassing, multi-faceted, and complex.

I’ll leave you with one final thought. If the climate crisis is a problem made by our own-two-hands, doesn’t that also make it a problem that we know how to solve? Perhaps the better question is, will we?

– Benjamin Grant, Founder

Source imagery: NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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Clean lines, restrained palette, effortless cool – does this sound like the unmistakable touch of Ritz&Ghougassian, or what? Their latest project for visualisation and image-making practice MR P in Melbourne redefines the growing studio’s needs to establish a separation of client meeting space from workspaces.

Tasked with a naturally low lit and dark interior shell (great for the glare but not so great for entertaining clients) Ritz&Ghougassian reorganised the area creating a central lounge space bordered by an office and workspace on either side.

The palette is simple and minimal. White walls and square concrete tiles act as a neutral backdrop to the utilitarian furniture and fixtures. Everything sits in perfect balance. A glass partition wall with stainless steel detailing and a sleek stainless steel door separate the office from the lounge area creating a sense of openness, allowing light from the office window to flood in.

Metallic materiality in all its luminous glory brightens up the space reflecting and enhancing the natural light. The bespoke orthogonal furniture designed in house embodies the meticulous nature of the work MR P produces. This is paired with a silk rug and rattan wrapped furniture that adds warmth to the spaces while still abiding by the ordered poise of the design.

Related: Stories On Design // Metallic Interiors.

Cubic images by MR P are projected on the lounge wall on entry, interplaying with the minimal interior. Mostly unadorned, bar a few books on the mantle, the sophisticated spaces reflect the studios unique approach to visualisations and image making.

While all of Ritz&Ghougassian’s designs are uniquely tailored to their client’s needs, rich in varying materiality, there is an overarching visual language that flows through to all their projects and can be felt in MR P’s studio too. Focusing primarily on the user experience and one’s relationship to the built environment through an interiorised lens, their work feels considered and resolved.

This project ultimately emerges as a celebration of stainless steel. A brutal and unforgiving material that’s oft overlooked, Ritz&Ghougassian have used it to form a warm and inviting space that speaks to MR P’s personality and design sensibility.

See more project by Ritz&Ghougassian on Yellowtrace.

| The article Mr P Studio HQ in Melbourne by Ritz&Ghougassian. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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Continuing with our Earth Week posts, today we are focusing on nuclear power. Nuclear supplies ~ 15% of the world’s electricity needs from roughly 450 nuclear power plants around the globe. While some parts of the nuclear process such as mining, transportation of materials, and plant construction do produce carbon emissions, no other energy source provides the same level of output, efficiency, and undisrupted energy during its power generation phase. Nuclear is not without its downsides, of course. First, each plant takes roughly 15 years to construct and they are often criticized for being expensive, over-budget, and reliant on government subsidies. Nuclear disasters have also been well-documented and the subsequent fear is embedded in the public consciousness. To learn a bit more, here is a story from our recent book “Overview Timelapse”:

Step 1 — The Olympic Dam mine in South Australia contains the largest known deposit of uranium in the world and is the country’s largest producer of uranium oxide, or “yellowcake.” Mining the material is the first step in processing uranium for energy. Before it can be fabricated into a fuel, the uranium must be enriched through the process of isotope separation.

Step 2 — Australia is home to 33 percent of the world’s uranium deposits and is the world’s third-largest producer of uranium. However, the country does not have any nuclear power plants or nuclear weapons, meaning all of the uranium mined there is shipped overseas to other countries that use the material. Uranium that is mined at Olympic Dam is shipped via Port Adelaide, located 350 miles (563 kilometers) away. The yellowcake is packaged in 200-liter drums and sent inside shipping containers on container ships like the one seen here at the port.

Step 3 — More than half of the uranium exported from Australia is purchased by the United States, a country that generates around 30 percent of the world’s nuclear power. The American nuclear facility with the largest capacity is Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station near Tonopah, Arizona, which produces an average of 3.3 gigawatts, or enough power to serve roughly 4 million people.

Source: Maxar / Nearmap

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For today’s Earth Week feature, we’re zooming in on the efforts of Coral Vita. Located in Freeport, Grand Bahama, this facility is the world’s first commercial land-based coral farm for reef restoration, growing coral to restore dying reefs. Why is this work so important in the context of climate change? Because, not only do coral reefs sustain 25% of marine life and up to 1 billion people’s livelihoods, but they also provide natural protection for roughly 93,000 miles (150,000 km) of coastline. With sea levels on the rise and coastal storms increasing in frequency, we should be protecting our coral so it can continue to protect us.

Unfortunately, half of Earth’s reefs are already dead and more than 90% are on track to die by 2050. Meaningful action to counteract climate change, overfishing, and pollution is not happening fast enough. That’s where Coral Vita restoration comes into play. They use breakthrough methods to grow coral up to 50x faster — in months instead of decades — while strengthening their resilience to warming oceans. Using a land-based aquaculture farming model, a single farm can potentially supply an entire island or nation’s reefs with more diverse, resilient, and affordable coral. Despite getting crushed by Hurricane Dorian and COVID-19, they’re fully committed to preserving the ecosystems that sustain us all, and ultimately plan to launch farms in every nation with coral reefs.

Photography by Nicholas von Albedyhll / Coral Vita

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I’m not one for camping in the outdoors because I am utterly terrified of the multitude of insects that Australia has to offer. I have almost always been jealous of friends who can bravely explore the outdoors, nature and the wilderness without a worry on their mind. So, when I came across Cabin ANNA by Caspar Schols, not only was I excited by the innovative and experimental nature of a prefabricated and flexible wooden house, but I feel like it has completely changed my mind on what is possible for people like me.

For Caspar Schols, who started his journey by designing his mum’s garden pavilion, aptly called the Garden House, it quickly became evident he had found his footing in the cut-throat design industry. The Garden House quickly became celebrated worldwide for its ability to rearrange layers for different occasions or weather conditions. With this in mind, he set out his career as a designer while expanding those fundamental steps of flexibility to culminate in creating Cabin ANNA.

Related: Tini Prefab Office by Ignacio de la Vega & Pilar Cano-Lasso of DelaVegaCanolasso.

Caspar found a striking balance connecting the temporal with a permanent habitation space, exuding enough flexibility and connectivity between home, nature and people. “ANNA is a dynamic home in the shape of an open platform to live with rather than against the elements, by playing with the configuration of the layers of the house,” he says.

With three different models available in on and off-grid versions, built using sustainably grown and untreated Larch, there is a perfect prototype for everyone. ANNA STAY has two long sliding shells with fixed elements like the kitchen, shower, toilet and storage space. It has also been designed with a mezzanine that fits a secondary king size bed for friends and family that may want to join in on the adventure. Additionally, ANNA Meet was designed with the socialising aspect in mind. It is suitable for a range of activities like yoga, writing, meetings, sleeping or experiencing torrential rain – I mean, imagine waking up in the morning and sliding those panels to reveal fog settling on a lake just as the sun sets (definitely insta-worthy!). Finally, ANNA Me can be designed for living or sleeping, a company retreat, holiday space or any other concept to sit in a backyard or the wilderness.

Related: Koto Unveils a Tiny Pre-fabricated Work Cabin.

The interiors are lined with Birch Ply, chosen for its high quality and light colour. It has been insulated with five centimetres of sawdust and is heated using a wood stove – although it comes with the option of installing electric heating. Despite the humble living space, the interiors are designed to feel spacious and welcoming. The long horizontal windows positioned under the roof’s overhang ensure that sunlight illuminates the area in summer without overheating. It is the ideal living space for someone who dreams of having floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views celebrating wherever you are. Contrary to that, the shells close to provide a hideaway from the world or protect from harsh weather conditions.

Come to think of it; whether you’re renting or own a property, we’re all human and, at some point, we all crave change. With ANNA, this is possible. It is perfect for the IKEA-fanatic flatpack enthusiasts, arriving in either one piece or 26 parts. Caspar has designed ANNA to ensure nothing is left behind in nature, so it is easy to pick up and go (it takes about three days to disassemble). ANNA establishes the opportunity for constant change, “just like the way you dress yourself to suit different weather conditions, occasions and moods”.

Related: Hinterhouse Prefab Retreat in Quebec, Canada by Ménard Dworkind.

| The article Prefab Off-grid Goals: Cabin ANNA by Caspar Schols. appeared first on Yellowtrace. |

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To celebrate Earth Day we’re doing our first Overview Impact post for tree planting in Haiti. It’s simple — for every like on today’s Instagram post, we’ll be planting one tree in Gonaïves, Haiti with our friends Eden Reforestation Projects. Here’s a link to the post to check out our progress:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-TFBzlckj/

Our sponsor for this post is Josh Elkes, co-founder and CEO of Harbour who has guaranteed the first 100,000 trees from the first 100,000 likes. Visit the link here - www.harbourshare.com - to learn how Harbour is bringing speed and innovation to the digital contracting process, and saving plenty of paper / trees in the process! On Instagram, we’re also accepting donations for Eden if you want to add more trees to today’s total impact. Any amount that you donate will go directly to Eden and will plant trees 100,001 and beyond…

• $1.50 = 10 trees
• $15.00 = 100 trees
• $150.00 = 1000 trees

Direct link to donate here:

https://www.instagram.com/linking/fundraiser…

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The impact of this post will be felt at the Eden Projects Agroforestry Nursery in Gonaïves, Haiti. This facility focuses on food security and education for residents in the surrounding area. Located on the property of a school, the trees grown here are distributed to the local community. The project also equips local farmers with the training and tools needed to design their plots, care for their trees, and increase their farms’ production and biodiversity.

As you can see in the first image, the country of Haiti (left of center) has historically suffered from degraded land and deforestation, primarily during its colonial period, which stands in stark contrast to the neighboring Dominican Republic (right of center). We’ve also captured the specific nursery that we’ll be supporting - you can see an Overview of it in image 3 - and we’ll be tracking the planting that you make possible from above in the months and years ahead!

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This first Impact post is made possible by Josh Elkes, co-founder and CEO of Harbour. You can learn more about their company and the digital contracts that they’re powering by visiting www.harbourshare.com. A big thank you to Josh for making this possible.

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Impact Post #1 for Eden Reforestation Projects, with Harbour

Source imagery : Maxar and Eden Reforestation Projects